For The Love Of Dirt
by starsnuffers
Summary: I like the smell of dirt. In my wildest fantasies, I see myself sitting in a big pile of dirt eating hotdogs with Shane Gray. This would have come true if that stupid Nate didn't have to ruin everything. Mate. Smitchie.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I like the smell of dirt.

But my mom's the weird one. She craves the smell of exhaust fumes. I blame her for my weirdness.

"Mitchie… Mitch. Mitchie? Hello?"

I snap out of my daze and look over at my friend who had been calling my name.

"Sorry," I apologize.

"Get out of Lala Land and help me with this," Caitlyn says, tossing me a sponge.

I catch it and it splashes soapy water all over me. I gasp at the coldness and yell, "You bitch!"

Caitlyn shrugs. "We're at a carwash."

I guess that would explain why I'm holding a garden hose and wearing a bathing suit. And why there are a bunch of cars lined up in our church's parking lot.

I start soaping up a car and look over to the left. That's when I see him – Shane Gray. He walked right past me and smiled. I. Just. Died. Inside. Shane is the most gorgeous thing ever. He's cute, sweet, considerate and… cute.

In my wildest fantasies, I see myself sitting in a big pile of dirt eating hotdogs with Shane Gray. Dirt. Hotdogs. Shane. Three of my favorite things. Oh, if only that could come true! Too bad he's three years older than me. He's not in my church class.

I sigh when I realize that he won't be going to Boston with us. That's why we're doing a carwash – to raise money for our church class's trip to Boston. If he was going to Boston with us, it would be a whole week of just looking at his hottie-ness and talking to him and–

Cold!

I whip around and see Caitlyn spraying me with a hose. "What the hell are you doing?" she asks. I turn and watch Shane walk into the church building. She watches him as well and then looks back over at me. "Shane?"

I nod.

"He's hot, but he has a girlfriend," she informs me and starts drying the car with a towel.

"I know," I say sadly and help Caitlyn with the car.

"Of two years," she continues. "Long term. They're serious."

"Thank you so much for tearing out my heart and ripping it up into shreds," I tell her sarcastically.

"Why don't you go after someone our age? Like someone in our class. Like Nate Gray. They're brothers; they look exactly the same… ish."

I look over at Nate, who was at the moment throwing a sponge at our friend Brian and laughing.

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head. "I mean, he's a tad immature."

We both look over at him and he has his hands on his chest, his shirt rolled up into a "Hit Me Baby One More Time" outfit, hollering out, "TITTIES!!!!"

"Okay, _really_ immature," I correct myself and throw my sponge back into the bucket.

"Well you never know," Caitlyn starts, standing up. "I mean, he may just be the sweetest, kindest, most mature gentleman in the whole church."

I raise my eyebrows. "Are we thinking of the same Nate here? My _dog's_ more mature than him."

We look back over him. He's rubbing himself up against the car making – what appears to be – sex noises.

"Okay, so maybe he's not as mature as I thought," Caitlyn says. She shakes her head. "It doesn't matter. I mean, some of the other boys in our class are pretty hot."

Being the only two girls in a class of seven, Caitlyn and I have our pick of any guy. We could get immature Nate, gentle giant John, show-offy Scott, silly Brian, or Debbie-downer Deven.

"I don't know," I say. "I mean, I only really like Shane."

Caitlyn sighs. "Yeah, me too."

"Bitch, I saw him first," I tease.

"Nuh-huh!"

"Yeah-huh! I went to this church way before you did! I've always thought he was a Hottie McHot Pants."

"Hottie McHot Pants?" she laughs.

I hit her lightly. "Shut up."

"Hey, I'm not the one who called Shane a 'Hottie McHot Pants.'"

"Well you were thinking of it."

"Uhhh, actually I wasn't."

"Yes you were!"

"No I wasn't!"

"Yes you were!"

"No I-"

We get cut off when Nate comes over and dumps a whole bucket of soapy water on us. Caitlyn and I scream and Nate and Brian high five.

Caitlyn scoffs. "I can't believe you just did that!" She starts beating the two boys with a towel, shouting, "You assholes!"

I stand there and try to get the soap out of my hair with the hose. Caitlyn's a little more aggressive than I am…

After Caitlyn had her revenge on the boys, she storms back over to me and grumbles, "Bastards." She takes a dry towel and wraps it around her head. "I was attempting to keep my hair dry, but I guess that can never happen with those two around."

Ugh, Nate. He seems to ruin everything. Like in second grade when he stepped on my painting of a chalice and ruined it. Jerk.

When we finish washing all the cars, we dry off and then go into the church and grab a box of donuts from the kitchen. Hey, we earned them. Even if they weren't ours. The person who owned them would just have to get over it.

Caitlyn and I leaned up against the counter as we munched on our breakfast.

"You know," Caitlyn starts with her mouth full of food, "I actually think Nate's pretty hot. I mean, sure he's a real asshole, but I've seen him be sweet before."

"You saw him doing an act of kindness?" I ask.

She nods. "He gave me the good beanbag last week."

"The pink one?" The pink beanbag is the only beanbag in our whole entire classroom that doesn't have a hole in it.

"Yup."

"Well maybe he gave it to you because he hates the color pink. And he doesn't want anyone to find out he's actually gay."

"No. He gave it to me because he likes me."

"Nate? Likes you? Okay Ms. Nate's So In Love With Me So He Poured Soapy Water All Over Me This Morning While It Was Like Fifty Degrees Out."

"Boys do mean things to you when they like you."

"No they do not! Shane has never done anything mean to me!"

"Well that's because you and Shane are never gonna happen!"

"Well one day, Shane and I will be sitting on a big pile of dirt eating hotdogs together and you're gonna stand there and be like, 'oh, shit, they really were meant to be!'"

Caitlyn stares straight ahead at the door.

"What do you say about that?" I ask, folding my arms. "Hmmm?"

"Why are you eating my donuts?" I hear a voice.

Shane.

I look over and see him in the doorway. He starts walking towards me.

Shit, did he hear everything I said about the dirt and the hotdogs?

I feel my face get hot and I stutter. "Oh, these are your donuts?"

Shane nods. He takes the pink box from me. "You ate all of them?" He seems crushed. Hurt, even.

"I'm sorry, Shane, I didn't know these were your donuts!"

He points to the paper on the top of the box that says, "Property of Shane. Do not eat."

"Oh," I say, looking down at the ground. "My bad."

Shane sighs. "I mean… it's okay. I was gonna surprise my girlfriend with them, but…"

I have never felt like such a bitch ever in my entire life before.

"I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!" I apologize profusely.

"It's okay…" he trails off.

"Shane, sweetie!"

Right when I heard that voice, I knew it was his girlfriend, Tess. She's wearing a pink tiara that reads, "It's My Birthday!"

Fuck. It's her birthday. Of course, that's why Shane got her pink donuts in a pink box. Her favorite color and her favorite food.

Tess walks over to Shane, smiling. "Donuts? For me?" She kisses him on the cheek. "Aww, you're so sweet!" She opens the box and her smile fades. "Shane, it's empty."

Shane nods. "I know."

"Why is it empty?" she asks, throwing it on the counter next to me. She turns to Caitlyn and me and smiles. "Hi Caitlyn! Hi Mitchie!" Then she puts on her angry face and turns to Shane again. "Okay, really, Shane? An empty donut box for my birthday?"

Shane looks over at us and then back at her. And back and forth.

Is he gonna rat us out? Is he gonna take the blame?

"I'm so sorry, Tess," he apologizes. "I got you these donuts for your birthday, but I came here and they were all gone!"

"Who ate them?" Tess asks, looking around for the culprit.

Shane shrugs. "I have no clue!"

"Someone came in here and just ate a whole box of donuts?" she asks, suspiciously.

"Hey," Shane pulls her into a hug, "how about we go out to eat? You pick where."

She smiles. "Okay!"

The two leave and Shane turns his head, only to give us a dirty look.

My heart stopped beating. Great, now he hates me.

Caitlyn and I exchange glances.

"Wow, I feel like a bitch," she says.

I nod in agreement.

"Caitlyn! Mitchie!" Caitlyn's dad called our names from the hallway.

"Coming!" we both said at the same time and hopped off the counter. We walk out of the kitchen and over to him.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

We nod and head out to Caitlyn's car. Her dad drops us both off at my house and we go inside.

"I'm home!" I call out to my parents. I see my dog, Aleksandr, lying in his bed.

"Hi Aleksandr!" Caitlyn says and pats the top of his head.

I head into the kitchen and Caitlyn follows me. I get out some dog treats and Caitlyn's eyes widen. "YOU HAVE A DOG?!" she exclaims, shocked and in disbelief.

I look at her like she's crazy. (Which she is.) "Yes…? Question mark?"

"Oh, yeah, I forgot!"

"But you just said hi to him!"

"I know, I forgot!"

I pat her on her head. "It's okay, we'll get you help." I call for my dog. "Aleksandr! Come here, you little son of a bitch!"

Caitlyn gasps as if she had a great epiphany. "He _is_ a son of a bitch!"

Aleksandr hobbles into the kitchen, wagging his adorable little spotted Dalmatian tail. I toss him the treat and he walks away to eat it in the dining room.

"I am SO glad we don't have school tomorrow," I say, grabbing a bag of popcorn and putting it in the microwave.

My friend nods. "Deff."

"Deff?"

"Yeah. It's short for definitely. Like… Bee tee dubs, that's deff cool."

"What?!"

"Just, just, just… Go away."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"So there's no school tomorrow, we've done everything we could have possibly thought of, and it's only four in the afternoon," I say, plopping down on my bed, looking up at the ceiling. "What are we supposed to do for the remaining… thirty-five hours before we have to go to school again?"

Caitlyn lies down on my bed. "Let's take a nap." She closes her eyes and fake snores.

I scoff and hit her shoulder. "That's boring. You're boring."

She looks up at me. "You're the weird one who likes dirt."

"Dirt is the most wonderful thing in the universe! Sometimes I just want to lick it."

My friend nods. "Okay, you really _are_ crazy."

I lay back down in my bed. "I wonder if Shane likes dirt."

"I don't think so."

I sit up. "I mean, maybe he does. Maybe one of his lifelong goals is to sit in a huge pile of dirt and eat hotdogs."

"Uhh…"

"What?"

"I don't think so."

"Well, you're wrong."

"Isn't he a vegetarian?"

"No he isn't!" I yell and hop off my bed. I refuse to believe that he doesn't like hotdogs. Or dirt.

"You seem upset," Caitlyn says. "Want to go to Target?"

I nod. "Yes, yes, yes, yes!" Suddenly, I get the best idea ever and I gasp. "I know what we can do!"

"What?" Caitlyn asks, getting excited. She gets off the bed and stands next to me.

I grab her arms and force her to look at me. "Caitlyn, you and I… CAN GET A MINI-POOL, FILL IT UP WITH DIRT, AND SIT IN IT EATING HOTDOGS!"

She smiles and nods. "Awesome!"

"Really!?"

Caitlyn stops nodding and puts on her serious face. "No."

I groan.

"How about," she suggests, "we get a mini-pool, fill it with _water_, and swim in it?"

"Eating hotdogs?"

"No."

"Ugh, fine. Can we at least put a little bit of dirt in it?"

"HELL NO!"

"Please? Just a little at the bottom?"

She stares at me with her serious angry face.

I sigh. "Fine."

Caitlyn grabs my hand and pulls me away. "Okay, off to Target!"

We both run out of my room and to the garage, getting two bikes. We start peddling down the street and to Target.

Summer's only a month away and I couldn't be more excited. There are so many things to do: Go to concerts, Caitlyn's birthday, seeing Shane every Sunday, sleeping until the afternoon, hanging out with friends, seeing Shane every Sunday, swimming, Boston, seeing Shane every Sunday… I mean, it's already really hot out. But then again, it's always hot here in Texas.

Sooner than I realize it, we're at Target. I lock up my bike to a shopping cart return thing and we walk inside together.

Target makes me happy. I have no idea why it makes me happy, but it does. I think it's the colors and the smell and… seeing Shane everywhere.

Yes, Shane and his brothers, Nate and Jason, are sell outs. They work for Disney and Disney thinks it's acceptable to plaster their faces on everything imaginable for money.

Honestly, it doesn't bother me that there is Connect 3 merchandise all over the place, because I get to see Shane's face everywhere.  
Don't tell him, but I have socks with Shane's face on them. And I'm wearing them right now.

"Ugh," I hear Caitlyn say in disgust.

"What?" I ask.

She points to the giant card board cut out of Shane. "That."

"What about it?"

"Doesn't it make you sick inside? Disney is an asshole. That's our friend."

I kinda like it, but I'd never tell Caitlyn. "Yeah," I lie. "Disgusting."

She shakes her head and we walk to the back and look at the inflatable kiddy pools. I see a Hannah Montana one, a High School Musical one, and a Connect 3 one. I pick it up. "This one."

Caitlyn scoffs. "That's too weird." She points to Nate. "And that guy's an asshole."

Well, he is. He's a chalice ruiner. But Shane's on it, and he's hot.

I smirk and pick up one with fish on it. "Hey, Caitlyn."

She turns to me and screams. "PUT THAT DOWN RIGHT NOW!"

I shove it in her face. "THEY'RE GONNA EAT YOU!"

"Michelle Renee Torres, you put those scary fishes away right now!"

Yes, Caitlyn is deathly afraid of fish. And she calls ME weird…

"They're staring at me!" she hollers and turns away, shielding her eyes.

I put it back on the shelf and laugh at her expense.

She turns back around and while covering the fishy pool with her hand, she picks out one with a giraffe on it. "This looks fun."

"A giraffe?" I ask, amused.

Suddenly, someone behind covers my eyes with their hands. I start screaming and kicking whoever it is.

"Nate, let her go!" Caitlyn scolds.

The person releases me and I turn around and see Nate standing there, laughing, wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap. I look him over. "Nice disguise," I say.

"Thanks," he says, putting his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

He rocks back and forth on his feet. "Just… you know… stalking you." He smiles evilly. Oh, I know that smile. He's planning something.

"You're not funny," I growl. "You scared the shit out of me."

"Did I really?"

"Well not literally."

Nate laughs and walks away.

"UGH!" I scoff and roll my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest.

"Asshole," Caitlyn mutters. "So, let's go pay for this and go back to your house."

"Okay," I say and we walk to the front of the store. "Oh wait! I need tampons!"

We change directions and as I'm grabbing a box, someone says, "I use this kind."

I look over and see Nate handing me a box.

"NATE!" I scold.

He laughs.

I hit him. "You're such a creeper! Leave me alone!"

Laughing hysterically, he quickly leaves.

"What the hell was that!?" Caitlyn yells after him.

I grab a box and groan. "Let's just go before he creeps on us again."

"Good idea," she agrees.

Once I've paid for the stuff and got back over to our bikes I stop.

"What?" Caitlyn asks, seeing that something was wrong.

"How the hell are we gonna do this?" I ask.

"Do what?"

"Carry this pool back on our bikes?"

"Wow, we didn't think this through, did we?"

"Nope."

"We basically fail at life."

"Yes, we do." I sigh. "I'll just call my mom and have her pick us up."

We sit down on the curb and wait for my mom to pick us up. I load up all the bikes and the stuff we bought and then Caitlyn and I hop in the backseat. When we get home, I go out to my backyard, set the pool on the patio, and then realize that the only way to blow it up is with an air mattress pump. Which I don't have.

"Shit," I curse. "I don't have an air mattress pump. We can't do this."

"Do you know someone who has one?" Caitlyn asks me.

I nod.

"Who?"

"Nate."

"Then let's go over to his house and ask to borrow it."

"Are you crazy!?" I ask. Well, she is.

"Well, it's either we ask him for it or we don't swim!" Caitlyn explains.

I sigh when I realize she's right. Sure he's an asshole and I hate him, but then again we're friends. It's complicated. I mean, I grew up with him, I kinda have to like him a bit. Plus, we go to the same church and we might as well get along or spending a week in Boston together is going to be hell.

"Fine, let's go," I give in.

Luckily, the Gray's are my next-door neighbors, so we didn't have to walk very far. I ring the doorbell and Nate answers. He smirks. "Are you here to stalk me now?"

"No," I say, clenching my teeth. "We need to borrow your air mattress pump."

"Air mattress pump?" he asks.

I nod. "Yes."

I hear Jason yell from the back of the house, "FLUFF!!!!!"

Random, yes. Stupid, yes. Jason is both of those.

"I'll see if I have one," he says and closes the door on us.

Caitlyn and I exchange glances.

He comes back about five seconds later. "Nope. Don't have one. Sorry." He starts to close the door, but I stop it with my hand.

"I know you have one," I say.

Nate raises his eyebrows. "How can you be so sure?"

"Cause you threw it at me last weekend."

He stares at me for a second intensely and then sighs. "Fine." He closes the door and then returns with an air pump, holding it out for me. Right before I could grab it, he pulls it away from me. "Not so fast."

I groan.

"What do I get out of this?" he asks.

"Absolutley nothing," I say, trying to take it from him.

He holds it up in the air, out of my reach. Damn him for being taller than I.

"Give it to me," I demand.

"Pushy, pushy, pushy!" he laughs a bit.

"Nate…"

"I'll tell you what. I'll give it to you, if you let me go swimming with you."

"How do you know we're going swimming, you creeper?"

He shrugs, a smirk plastered across his face. "What do you say? Let me swim with you and you get the air pump?"

"Haha no."

"Fine then. No air pump for you. You know, most girls about your age would die if Nate Gray asked to go swimming with them."

He closes the door yet again, but I stop it with my hand. "Ugh, fine, you can go swimming with us." I roll my eyes.

"Great!" he exclaims. "I'll go get my swimsuit! I'll be over in a sec, here's the air pump."

I snatch it from him angrily. Damn him. Caitlyn and I walk back to my house and set up the pool. Right as I'm filling it up with water, Nate hops over our fence and into our backyard. "Aight, let's do this!"

"Well, hold your poops in your pants," I say. "It's not done yet."

"Hold my what in my what?" he asks, a hint of amusement in his voice.

I glare at him. "Shut up and fill up the pool while I get my bathing suit on." I shove the hose at him and go into my room with Caitlyn.

Right as I close the door, I groan. "He is SUCH an asshole!"

Caitlyn shrugs. "I guess. I mean, he's kinda nice to me."

I grab my bathing suit out of my dresser. "You cannot take his side!"

"Well…"

"Well?"

"Well… go away. You like dirt, you weirdo." She goes into my bathroom to change.

I kick the wall. Stupid Caitlyn, stupid Nate. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Once we both get changed, we head outside.

Nate is sitting in the pool and he looks over at us. "Sexy," he says, laughing.

"Fuck you," I grumble and sit down in the pool.

"I compliment you, so you respond by insulting me?"

I give him the evil eye and he shrugs. He splashes me and I gasp. I stand up, only to stub my toe on the ground. Damn uneven patio rocks!

"SHIT!" I scream and sit down, holding my toe. "Fuck my life!" This really hurts!

Nate suddenly looks worried. "Mitchie, are you okay?"

I look at him, rage building up in me. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

He comes racing over to me. "What's wrong?"

"Screw you!" I say and hop out of the pool.

Nate gets out of the pool too and hands me his towel. "I'll go get you some ice."

"I don't need anything from you!" I blow up in his face. "You stupid son of a bitch! I hate you! Don't ever come near me again!"

"Wow, that was really hostile and uncalled for," he says, keeping his cool.

"You stupid chalice ruiner!"

"That was like ten years ago!" he defends.

I give him the middle finger and storm off into my house, Caitlyn following me.


End file.
